Goode Goes Global
by FinnickOdair-Will-Live-Forever
Summary: Reality TV is rapidly sweeping through the nation, and the students at Goode high school have been snapped up by MTV to feature on a brand new show. Will the cameras, secrets and lies destroy relationships that they had thought to be set in stone? Who will risk all to gain the infamous title of the beloved villain? And, above all else, who will walk away from fame with nothing?
1. Annabeth's Intro

**This was an idea that popped into my head one evening and wouldn't leave me alone. I'm terrible at updating, ask anyone who's ever read one of my fics, but I will my best with it. I just don't see the point in writing if my heart's not in it, but I think I'll stay rather interested in this idea as there are lots of twists I could add in. As always, I'm open to suggestions. :)**

**This takes place shortly after The Last Olympian- None of the events in Heroes of Olympus took place, but I will still use the characters. Everybody goes to Goode and I'll explain how the Greeks know the Romans later on.**

**I don't own the Percy Jackson Series.**

**Annabeth:**

Every sixteen year old girl wants to be famous, right? They want the glitz and the glamour, the money, the endless luxury. They want people to look at them and feel lust or envy, to be the pin-up on somebody's wall. To become a role model for doing nothing but relaxing in a luxurious house with a hot pool boy all day, listening to themselves on the radio or watching themselves on television.

I wanted a lot of things, but fame wasn't really one of them. I'd never been one of those girls that sought out riches and admiration. I wanted to be the girl that saved the lives of her loved ones, the one that had trained forever to be able to do that. To swing a sword, throw a knife, or wield a bow. To be a hero, because otherwise why had I wasted my time preparing for those moments?

I wanted to quest, and find adventure. Above all else, what I wanted was your typical half-blood life. Not a reality show, uncomfortable fame, failed friendships and rocky romances. Not betrayal, backstabbing and bitchiness. And I most certainly didn't want my world as I knew it to come crashing down around me with three simple words:

Goode Goes Global.

…

"So, what are we doing this afternoon?"

Travis Stoll sat at the head of our lunch table. We let him do it because it made him feel special, but we were always quick to knock him off his pedestal if things got too out of hand.

"_We're _not doing anything." Thalia snorted. "Nobody likes you."

We all laughed at the mock tears Travis pretended to cry. We were a large group, taking up more than one table. It consisted of me, Percy, Thalia, Nico, Travis and Connor Stoll, Grover, Katie Gardner, Rachel Dare, Piper Mclean, Jason, Reyna and Leo.

"Aw, Thalia. You broke his little black heart." Katie joked. We were a close group, Greek and Roman camps combined. Although I always said it was dangerous to have too many half-bloods in one unprotected place, it was worth it to attend Goode with my friends from the two camps. Even Thalia had managed to convince Artemis that a little schooling wouldn't hurt the young lieutenant.

"But seriously, what are we going to do?" Connor Stoll asked.

"Yeah, it's a Friday. We always hang out on Friday afternoons." Percy added. Our large group consisted of different ages and very different personalities. Sophomores, juniors and seniors were our ages, with most of us being juniors. We weren't popular, but we didn't care. We were happy, content to hang out with each other and only make casual small talk with the rest of the Goode population when necessary. We weren't up ourselves or proud or anything- just after all we'd been through together, we preferred to spend time with each other.

We had discovered the Roman camp shortly after the titan war. We were supposed to be enemies, but they were just like us Greeks. Over the last few months, they had become true friends to us and we wouldn't change that over some silly old tradition of sorts.

"We could just chill by the pool at Piper's place?" Jason suggested, squeezing her hand. Everybody agreed that that sounded like a good idea, and we made plans to meet there an hour after school finished. It may have been November, but we were going through an intense Indian summer that had us all sweating buckets.

"Want me to pick you up?" Percy muttered in my ear. My stomach did a flip, and I held back a small smile.

"In Paul's old hoof dented Prius? No, Percy. _I'll _pick _you _up." I smirked. Okay, so it wasn't exactly a traditional relationship- but who cared? We were happy.

"Attention students." The principal's voice crackled through the speakers. "I have an important announcement. Here at Goode, we pride ourselves on the excellence of our students. It seems like America is wishing to take note of that, and we have been personally selected by MTV to be the subject of a high school reality television show."

A ripple of excitement ran through the cafeteria, especially from Travis and Connor. Okay, I'll admit it. Originally, I was kind of intrigued about being on a reality show and perhaps a little excited myself.

"Filming begins on Monday, and students will be selected as the main features of the show. Visit the auditorium Sunday morning at eleven to audition for one of these roles. And please remember to be on your best behaviour when the cameras are here, because that will be when Goode Goes Global."

The students cheered, and my friends and I were caught up in it too. It was new and interesting and exciting- so long as they didn't catch us killing any hellhounds or whatever.

…

It was six o'clock and the sun was only just beginning to set. Lounging around the pool in Piper's backyard was incredible- her house was amazing. I could never comfortably live in a place like this, but spending an afternoon or two there was definitely appeared more than once on my weekly 'To-do' list.

"So who's going to audition then?" Nico asked. He was sat at the poolside, his feet dangling in the water. The reality show had been the topic of conversation for the first fifteen minutes of us being at Piper's, but that had ended when Grover fell in the pool and almost broke his leg. Upon learning he was okay, we had laughed our asses off.

"Eleven in the morning? _No_." Reyna scoffed. She was a strong personality, but for a fierce Roman leader she really hated mornings.

"I think I will." Jason nodded. "It could be real fun."

"Give me a ride?" Thalia asked her little brother, who rolled his eyes in response. We all knew he would give in to her though, he always did.

"I think my life already has enough drama, thank you." Piper laughed, and I agreed with her.

"Well, Travis and I are obviously auditioning." Connor grinned from the shallow end of the pool, where he was splashing Katie and Leo.

It was decided that Jason, Thalia, Connor, Travis, and Rachel would audition. I said I'd give Rachel a ride- I liked her a lot more now that she was the oracle. For me, Grover, Percy, Piper, Katie, Leo, Nico and Reyna it was wasn't really our thing. We'd still be on the show, we decided, just not as features.

"Not auditioning?" I asked Percy, leaning back against him on the sunbed. His skin was warm and his hands sent heat through my body as he placed them on my hips.

"Can you imagine me on a reality TV show?" He grinned.

"No." I laughed. "Like seriously, wholeheartedly no."

The sun dropped lower and it wasn't long until we were curled up under blankets in the living room. We covered the seats and floor and had ran out of pillows, but we didn't mind.

"What movie shall we watch?" Piper asked, sorting through the collection of DVDs that didn't have her dad in.

"'We're the Millers'!" Leo yelled, but was quickly shot down as we had watched that last week.

"How about 'Avengers'?" Nico suggested, but nobody liked the sound of that either. Various suggestions flew around the room but we finally settled on 'The Hunger Games', a group favourite.

The movie was great, but around halfway through people started to fall asleep. This tended to be how our afternoons and weekends ended- some or all of us would have a fun day together and end up asleep in each other's living rooms. It was second nature to us, we were like a family. A large, annoying, dysfunctional family. And now, we were about to go global.

**I hoped you all enjoyed the first chapter and that you want me to continue this, because there are literally so many different plots I can run through here and I'm quite excited. :)**


	2. Rachel's Shock

**I don't own The Percy Jackson series.**

**Rachel**

Being the oracle isn't easy- but nobody had said that it would be. I mean, I knew what happened to Luke's mom. I knew that I could be rejected, or worse, that I wouldn't be. It's not too bad, and living in a cave during breaks from school is actually quite cool. But school? That's a whole different kettle of fish. My point is, if you think that being a high school student is hard then you should try being the Oracle of Delphi at Goode High.

I'm always panicking that I'm going to start spouting a prophecy in the middle of math class. So being on a reality show would probably heighten that fear, right?

Wrong.

If I start talking about demigods or the Minotaur when the cameras are on me, then I can easily lie and say it was just for good television. I'll be a hero, MTV will love me, and my dad won't send me back to Clarion. I barely managed to talk him out of it after that first awful month.

"So what do you think they'll ask you?" Annabeth asked, tapping the steering wheel of her car as we waited for the stop light to change.

"I have no idea. What classes I take? Clubs? If I have anger issues? Your guess is as good as mine." I shrugged as Annabeth accelerated. A few minutes later, we turned into the school parking lot.

"They probably want to find out if you're worth filming." Annabeth said. I was a little early, so we discussed it for a while.

"Just mention your dad." She suggested. "They'll definitely put you in if they know your rich."

"How come?" I laughed. It was weird- ever since I became the oracle, Annabeth seemed to like me a whole lot more. She totally didn't have to know that I kissed Percy- or that I enjoyed it.

"The rich girl is _always _a crazy psychopath." Annabeth grinned. Her phone started ringing, and she offered me an apologetic smile before answering it.

"Hey Seaweed Brain…Yeah. That sounds good." She spoke into it.

"See you later." I mouthed at her, and got out the car.

The school's auditorium wasn't too big, and the red cushioned seats were spilling their insides where bored students had picked at them.

"Dare!" Jason yelled from across the room. He was stood leaning against the wall with the Stoll brothers. I made my way over with a smile and stood with them. Thalia was stood on the stage while a dark haired man and a redheaded woman wearing headsets pointed at her and talked quietly. There must have been a hundred kids sitting in the seats around us.

"Have they asked her anything yet?" I asked, but Jason shook his head.

"No. She's the first one to go, so I'm not really sure what they want to know."

"Thalia Grace." The women smiled sunnily at her.

"It's just Thalia." Thalia responded automatically.

"Right. Okay." The woman jotted something down. "I'm Daphne, and this is Sam. We're from MTV and we want to see who we're going to have as our main features. We're looking for around seven people. I must say, that's a rather interesting style you have there. I like it."

Thalia looked down at her outfit. She wore black jeans that were so shredded it looked like she'd been in a fight with a chimera. Her t-shirt was bright red with a black Nirvana smiley face on it splashed across it like it had been spray painted on.

"Thanks." She shrugged.

"So Thalia, tell us a bit about your personality." Sam smiled at her encouragingly.

"Well, I'm not exactly one of those girls that gushes about boys, or fashion, or going to prom. I'm pretty rebellious, and I like to let my wild side show. I don't take shit from anybody, and people tend not to give me any because they know I'd kick their asses." Thalia grinned.

"Good, good. What about school life? Take any weird clubs or classes? Relatives? Age?" Daphne asked without looking up from the notepad she was writing in.

"I'm a senior. My brother Jason is a sophomore, he's stood over there." She pointed Jason out, and he grinned at the MTV workers. "I'm on the school archery team, but that's not really that weird."

"Alrighty then, thanks Thalia." Sam shot her a thumbs up as she walked off the stage and back towards us.

"That was great, they'll definitely want you." I said as the Stoll brothers clapped her on the shoulder. About twenty minutes later, Travis' name was called.

"I'm Travis." He grinned, oozing charm. "My twin and I are probably the most hilarious juniors you'll ever meet. This one time, we put a hedgehog in Miss Crawley's desk drawer. She totally put her hand straight on it and cried. It was classic."

Travis continued to woo the two execs and make them laugh with his and Conner's funny stories. By the time they called 'next', I was certain that he'd won a place for both him and his brother. In fact, as the hours trailed by I wondered if they were even going to bother calling Connor up at all.

"Jason Grace!"

"Wish me luck." He murmured, and we whispered encouragements as made his way forward.

"My name's Jason." He told them. "I'm a sophomore, as Thalia told you. I like to lead people. I'm compassionate, but I'm really self-critical. I care a lot about my friends, so you'll often see me with them."

"Thank you, Jason. Next!"

I waited and waited for my audition, but the fates must hate me. Out of all those kids in there it seemed like I was doomed to be the last one to go up onto the stage.

"Who do you think's gonna get a place?" Thalia asked, playing with the silver chain around her neck.

"Nobody's more interesting that us." Connor grinned and fist bumped Travis.

"Idiot." Thalia rolled her eyes. "Who else?"

"I think Lauren's in with a good shot." Jason said thoughtfully, and subtly pointed her out. Lauren was like a child's dress up doll- she wore flowing dresses and red lipstick that went well with her wavy dark hair. We didn't really know her that well, but she didn't seem too nice. She was a rich girl, and when she auditioned she had promised a lot of cat fights, parties and bitching.

"What about Alex? They love a jock." Thalia nodded in the direction of the captain of the football team. He had dark brown hair and brilliant blue eyes- I was willing to admit that he was attractive but after sitting behind him in French for the last few months, I could accurately conclude that he was the dullest guy I'd ever met in my whole life. And that's including previous oracle lives.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare!"

Finally. We'd been hanging around here for four hours, and I was the very last name to be called.

"We've pretty much filled all the spaces but one." Daphne lipsticked a smile at me. "So impress us, and you could be in with a shot. No promises!"

"Okay, so my name's Rachel. My father runs Dare Enterprises-"

"I've heard of that! It's malls and stuff, right?" Sam interrupted.

"Right. I'm pretty relaxed and easy going, but I know what makes good television and-"

Daphne waved a hand at me to stop. Glancing up, I realized what the two of them were looking for.

"Um, sorry." Annabeth had come crashing through the auditorium doors. "It's pull, right? I thought it was push."

"Her!" Daphne yelled, pointing straight at Annabeth. "She's the one!"

"I agree." Sam grinned. "Come here!"

I watched with my jaw dropped as Annabeth awkwardly made her way down to the MTV execs.

"Have you come to audition?" Daphne asked excitedly.

"Um, no. I'm just here to pick up my friend and-"

"Tell us about yourself!" Sam demanded.

"Okay…I'm Annabeth Chase. I go to Goode. Um, I'm an honours student. I like architecture and-"

"Perfect! Just perfect! You've got the _look _darling!" Daphne squealed.

"You're done, sweetheart." Sam said without looking up from his notepad. It took a while before I realized he was talking to me. Still in shock, I slowly made my way off the stage. Jason shot me a sympathetic look, but my brain still hadn't processed it properly.

"The final list is ready!" Sam announced to the waiting students. "It really didn't take long to deliberate. Features have been awarded to Thalia Grace, Lauren Walker, Travis Stoll, Alex Mason, Connor Stoll, Caitlyn Fencer and Annabeth Chase!"

Thalia and the Stolls ran over to Annabeth to celebrate as all the other students groaned.

"Sucks, right?" Jason asked as he leaned against the wall. I could tell it didn't really bother him though- he was happy for his sister. I, however, had really wanted a place.

"Yeah." I muttered, kicking at an empty can. "Sucks."


	3. Travis' Spotlight

**Thank you for the positive feedback. :) I know the Stolls aren't twins, but I need them to be for some of my plot lines to work. I don't own Percy Jackson.**

**Travis:**

I am awesome.

Okay?

Okay.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let me emphasis on the why. My twin Connor and I are the most dynamic pranking duo on the whole planet. How do I know this? Well, we're sons of Hermes and we had a little inter-cabin competition. It involved screaming, crying and a _lot _of running away from Chiron.

Allow me to talk you through a few of our ingenious pranks. One of our earliest masterpieces was wiring the Ares cabin sound system to play 'Barbie Girl' on repeat for forty seven hours. After that, we put hair removal cream in the shampoo bottles of the Aphrodite kids. Then there was time that we covered the roof of the Demeter cabin in chocolate aster bunnies- oh man, that prank was a good one. Katie Gardner had got _so _mad at us, it was amazing. Ever since then, our pranks have mainly centred around her because her reaction just cracks me up. I remember a few days after the Titan war she was in the strawberry fields sorting out the rotas for the rest of cabin before she went home. Connor and I thought it would be funny to explode all the remaining strawberries when her back was turned. She didn't share our sense of humour, and chased us with a rake.

Anyway, I don't really remember when Connor and I started to prank together. If there was a hall of fame for being mischievous, it would be set up in our name. We'd play tricks on other demigods and the odd mortal, but we reserved the best ones for each other. Like, the time I left an angry skunk in his wardrobe at our mom's place. Or when he cut up all my jeans and turned them into short-shorts. Like I said, I don't remember when it started- and looking back on it now, I certainly don't remember when it _ended_.

…

"I can't believe we're going to be on reality TV."

Connor reclined lazily on the couch that MTV had set up for our introductions.

"Get your feet off the couch." Mama Stoll snapped at him. He muttered an apology and sat up as I sniggered quietly. Nobody messes with Mama Stoll. _Nobody_. Zeus himself quakes in his boots at the thought of ever having to face her in an argument. You just can't win with that woman- she's one hell of a force to be reckoned with.

"America's gonna love us." I smirked, and went to sit next to the two of them of the red velvet. MTV had set the couch up in a corner of the library that had been transformed into a miniature studio. The backdrop was the front of Goode, making it look like we were just chilling on the steps. We got to choose who came in for then introduction with us, so long as we were close to them. Annabeth had already been in with Percy and Rachel, and Thalia was lined up to go after us with Jason and Piper. We figured that these guys would get extra screen time too, as they were going to feature a lot in our lives. We were going to have to introduce ourselves and answer a few questions, and that would be shown on the pilot episode. Tomorrow, we would be filming our tag lines for the introduction credits. Connor and I were think of using 'Double the teen, double the trouble' and we knew Thalia was looking at 'Why be a princess when you can be a huntress?' She said it represented bravery and being fearless, as well as being a shout out to the Hunters of Artemis.

Though, MTV had made it very clear that we could be switched out for other students at any time if the audience took a disliking to us. It was the same for everyone- except that Connor and I were far from boring. I had considered inviting Katie along, just for the drama, but she probably would have said no anyway.

Rumours were flying, and of course they featured one Miss Piper Mclean. Word had it that the producers had figured out who she was, and wanted camera time for her. Knowing Piper, she wouldn't want that. But Jason did, and she would do whatever she could to make Jason happy- Even if that meant being on reality TV.

"Alright, you three." The smiling brunette lady in front of us had her hair pulled back so tight that I thought her skin would split. "I'm Hanna. I'm going to ask you a few questions, and just answer them normally. We want the audience to know the real you."

She turned to one of the camera men and had a hushed conversation with him whilst pointing to the lights.

"Start by introducing yourselves. Connor, you start on action. Travis, feel free to cut in at any time." She picked up a slate. "And…Action."

"I'm Connor Stoll, and I'm the superior Stoll brother." Connor started, but there was no way I was going to let him get away with that.

"Um, I don't think so." I interrupted. "I'm older. I have more experience than you."

"Experience with what?" Connor raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged.

"At being superior."

"Boys!" Mama Stoll clipped us both around our ears. "Connor, continue."

"As I was saying," Connor shot me a glare. "I'm Connor. When I'm not pranking people, or just generally pissing them off, you can find me at the track. I like to sprint."

No shit. He's a child of Hermes- speed is our game.

"I'm Travis. I'm the older twin-"

"By twenty minutes!" Connor protested.

"Still older." I grinned wickedly at him. "I'm pretty close with Connor, but we have a big group of friends that we've known forever and love pulling pranks on. The first thing you'll learn about the Stoll brothers is that there's never a dull moment when we're around."

"You had better not get into any more trouble, you two. Remember, I am always watching." Mama Stoll threatened, narrowing her eyes as she glared at us in turn.

"Who?" Connor asked, looking wide-eyed and innocent. I mirrored his expression.

"Us? Never."

"Just remember what happens when you step out of line, young men. You wouldn't want me to take away your little box of tricks now, would you?" Mama Stoll raised an eyebrow at as.

"You wouldn't!" I gasped, but the look in her eyes said that she most certainly would. Our 'little' box of tricks contained everything we need to pull a great prank, from duct tape to pillow cases. Losing that box was the Stoll equivalent to losing a hand.

"This is great, you guys." Hanna laughed. "Any crushes, Connor?"

"Well, there is this one girl. But it's never gonna happen." Connor said after a long hesitation. My head snapped around to face him so fast that I almost got whiplash.

"You didn't tell me that." I glared at him.

"Come on, Travis. I don't have to tell you everything." Connor smirked.

"Fine, but I'm not telling you who I like either." I shrugged dismissively. Okay, so that was an exaggeration. Perhaps I kind of sort of maybe had a little thing for the way Katie Gardner looks when she's angry, but I wouldn't call it a crush. Not by a long shot.

"Dude, not cool."

"Mama Stoll, what kind of girl would you want for your sons?" Hanna asked, gesturing to the main camera man.

"Somebody that can cook. My boys are useless in the kitchen." Mama Stoll said, looking annoyed.

"She's right." I laughed.

"We burnt out first house down making toaster waffles." Connor added, and we high-fived over our mother. Let me be the one to tell you that that was the worst idea we've ever had. She instantly grabbed us by our ears and squeezed them tight when we tried to struggle away.

"Ow! Ow!" Our cries of pain fell on deaf ears.

"Somebody with a kind heart." She continued, smiling warmly as she continued her iron grip. "But she has to be able to put up not only with the one she is with, but their sibling as well. She has to have inner strength and rule the relationship with an iron fist, or they will get bored.

"True." I squeaked. "My first girlfriend wouldn't stop talking about her friends, so I held a racoon race in her bedroom."

"I've had a similar incident." Connor was barely audible. "My last girlfriend just wanted me to take her shopping all the time, so I called her parents pretending to be the FBI and told them that she was on the most wanted list for reasons I could not currently disclose. That was six months ago, and I think she's still grounded."

Mama Stoll dropped our ears with a sigh, and we could finally breathe again. I felt the blood rush back into my ear.

"Ignore everything I said." She shook her head, but I could see a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "I just want them to find girls that will put up with them."


	4. Piper's Concern

**I don't own the Percy Jackson series.**

**Piper:**

If my new classmates at Goode find out who my dad is, I'm screwed. I mean, it's not like I don't love him- of course I do. It's been a rocky road to get to where we are, but I'm finally at a point where I really feel like I can let him in. I just _cannot _handle teenage girls telling me about how 'dreamy' he is or about the posters they have of him on their wall. He's my _dad _for Hades' sake.

It's the main reason why I didn't want to be a part of this stupid show, 'Goode Goes Global'. I've had a lifetime of cameras shoved in my face already, so I really don't want anymore. That sounds spoiled, but if people found out about my dad then they'd pretend to be friend just to get near him.

Anyway, none of that mattered. I was kind of forced into it anyway. As soon as my dad caught wind of the project, he told MTV that they should do a feature on me. He wasn't exactly pleased when he found out that I didn't go to the audition, so he got them to stick me in as a part of Thalia's story.

I probably sound like the most spoiled girl in the world right now, but I don't care. I just don't want my life to be changed anymore that it already has been. The last few months have been crazy, and I've just found my place with my new friends and Jason. I don't want that to all fall to pieces when the cameras appear. We're a strong group- I just don't know how strong.

I shouldn't have bothered worrying about it- I should have just accepted that things would never be the same again.

…

Being the girlfriend of Jason Grace gave me a feeling similar to that of the one you get when you win a battle. When you slay the Minotaur, or single-handedly hold off an army of hellhounds or something. I was just _elated_, because this golden boy had wanted me. He could have had anyone he wanted, and that person was me. It was tough to get there- Reyna clearly wanted to be more than friends with him- and now that we were together I just wanted to do it all right.

"Piper." He grinned warmly at me and pushed himself off of the sign he was leaning against when he saw me getting out of my car. He waited in the same place every morning without fail.

"Hey." I greeted Jason, and he gave me a short but sweet kiss. "What's up?"

We chatted idly as we made our way towards the entrance to Goode. We both had a free period first thing today, along with Katie and Annabeth, and we usually spent it hanging out in the cafeteria. Jason and I would talk about pretty much everything, Annabeth would hardly look up from her studying and Katie would yawn tiredly as she shot back four cups of coffee.

"Whoa." Our conversation was cut off when we stepped inside the cafeteria. There were cameras all over the place- between tables, behind the lunch ladies, suspended for the ceiling- and they were all focused on the table in the centre of the room where Annabeth sat with Katie and Alex Mason, who from what I heard had captained the football team to the playoffs last year.

"Hey!" Annabeth looked up from her book for long enough to wave us over.

"Um…No." I heard Katie say to Alex as we walked over. "I don't think it's scientifically possible to live off of a diet of rocks."

"They have minerals!" He protested, and then turned to Jason and me to flash us a winning smile. "Hey."

"Hi." I smiled back as we sat down opposite him and Annabeth. The camera crew never turned away from us except to record a girl falling over as she walked in, which was quite unsettling.

"Alex…Why are you here? No offense, but-"

"No sweat, man. I just thought I'd get to know my fellow feature over here." He nudged Annabeth, causing her to draw a squiggly line with her pen halfway through a word. She looked up, glared at him, and carried on writing.

"He's so stimulating." She deadpanned without looking up from whatever she was studying.

"Thanks. You're not too bad yourself." Alex grinned. Annabeth shot me a momentary look of despair.

"So…You're a senior, right?" Jason asked. We'd never spoken to him, seeing as we were new at the start of the year and already had friends.

"Yep." He popped the 'p'. "Oldest in the school, actually. Means I was driving first. And I'll probably die first."

Alex was in my math class. He wasn't stupid, but he was certainly an idiot. By that I meant that he could solve an algebraic equation easily enough, but thought that jumping off of a roof into a paddling pool was a good idea.

"Right, okay." Jason clearly didn't know what he should say to that.

"Do you think we're making good TV?" He asked.

"No." Katie instantly answered, shaking her head. "I do not."

"So we make it more interesting." Alex leaned back in his chair, resting his hands behind his head. "Katie, who's hotter- Piper or Annabeth?"

Katie raised an eyebrow at him and stood up, dusting invisible crumbs from her hands.

"I need more coffee."

"Alex, could you shut up? I'm at a complicated bit- my dyslexia isn't helping out and neither are you." Annabeth sighed, resting her forehead against the palm of her hand.

"Sorry." Alex held his hands up in mock surrender. "Feisty."

"Um, excuse me?"

We looked up as a redheaded girl appeared at the end of the table, wringing her hands awkwardly.

"Caitlyn!" Alex yelled, causing Annabeth to wince. "Sit down!"

If the school rumour mill was correct, and it rarely was, Alex and Caitlyn had had a thing over the summer. They had spent a few weeks flirting nonstop before she threw him out of her parents' beach house for trying to make things move too quickly.

Now, I'm not one to believe rumours, but the way she pointedly ignored Alex and sat next to me instead of close to him told me that there had been something there. Aphrodite instinct, I guess?

"Let's talk about how cute Piper is." Alex grinned at Caitlyn, who rolled her eyes and turned away.

"Dude." Jason frowned.

"Alex is a moron." Caitlyn beamed and held a hand out to me, Jason and Annabeth in turn. "I'm Caitlyn, captain of the debate team, feminism and abstinence club leader, and an avid member of the girls' volleyball team. Are any of you into sports?"

"I'm thinking of trying out for baseball." I said thoughtfully.

"I'm looking into soccer, no promises." Jason smiled back at her.

"I'm going to volleyball try-outs tomorrow." Annabeth didn't even glance up at us.

"You should. I highly recommend participation in any and all school activities." Caitlyn grinned and started chattering away to Jason about the debate team.

"What are you studying so hard for?" I asked Annabeth, frowning. "I haven't forgotten about a test, have I?"

"No." Annabeth swatted my hand away, stopping me from poking her with her ruler. "I need to keep on top of things. The transfer was complicated.

"Right. From San Fran." I nodded understandingly. "Where's Percy?"

"Chemistry." She smirked. I have to admit, I laughed a little before sparing a serious thought for the poor guy.

"Percy takes to chemistry like a duck to water." I joked.

"More like Percy takes to chemistry like Zeus takes to the water." Annabeth snorted.

"Huh?" Alex had clearly grown bored of kicking Caitlyn under the table. "Zeus? What?"

I didn't like the new 'additions' to our tightknit group- they were loud and irritating, and now we had to censor what we were saying. Well, the cameras would have done that anyway but that's not the point. I hoped they didn't stick around, and I could tell that Annabeth was thinking the same.

"I like mythology." She shrugged. Alex nodded slowly like he understood, though I wasn't completely sure that he did. He was nice, I guess, just not exactly a child of Athena. I could tell that he was pushing Annabeth's buttons.

However, I was starting to see why MTV had thrown together the people they had chosen. They had a bitchy girl who probably always got her way, they had Caitlyn who was an over-achiever and had some sort of tension with the captain of the football team. It was stereotypical to put him in there, but the audience would love it. Then they had Annabeth and Thalia who would show the more 'real' side of high school, and the Stolls to provide entertainment. It looked like it was going to work well for them, but who knew how long it would last?


End file.
